The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto Guevara (pg. 112-175)

Summary

   Ernesto and Alberto go to a cathedral, and they find footprints of Catholic Church on Andeans people are shown through Cuzco. Dr. Hermosa gives theme tour and explains the way of life to them.  ON their way to Cuzco, which took 12 hours, there was a third class train reserved for Indians. Ernesto explains that North Americans know about Peru and superficially visit the cities and the ruins without paying attention to the serious social problems. They visit the archeological museum in Cuzco was very poor but for Alberto and Ernesto it was amazing. They found a mestizo curator that told them of the need for education and rights of the Indians. They learned that the Quechua people instead of being prideful of their rich history are ashamed of being part of a mestizo class. They also talk about coca and the problem in Peru, there was much abuse against the rich-profit makers and may poisoned people (by the drugs). Tribes that mainly consumed Coca were Colla and Wuechua. The museum also expresses these Indians tribes race for trying to find their identity. They arrive at Albancay was there last stop before Huancarma, which is the last leper colony at Huambo. They walk around and dream something other than hospital food because they are always staying at hospitals. They get lost on there way to police station and get in someone’s yard who mistaken them for the Incan greater for there light skin. They visit a church where the priest is crazy but they leave because Ernesto gets an asthma attack. Ironically, he smokes a couple black cigarettes because it helps him when not having adrenaline available. They ask the governor for horses and he steals them from poor people, so Che and Alberto decide to give them back to him. They decide to walk to the leper colony in Huanacarma where the hospital is terrible, the doctors don't have materials to treat others so many are left to die, it is not sanitary, and many patients get depressed being there. The doctor pays an Indian man to carry their bags back to the city, but they refuse to let him keep on going holding the bags. He gets sick and they go to the hospital in Andahuaylas. They were short on money and scared to eat or get a job until they get to Lima. They are staying at the police station and get kicked out because Alberto screams at a policeman when he insults an Indian woman who brings food for her husband. They treat Indians literally like objects. Traveling to Lima they get caught in traffic by a landslide, eat raw corn, and they were about to eat an almost raw cow heart. On their way to Lima, they find there friend’s mom doesn't live in Oxapamon as expected and they decide to live. They ask a doctor for food and get a ride where they almost freeze on the roof and get up to 4853 meters above the foreign office. Dr. Huge Pesce received them and was very kind to them on a tour of the hospital of Guia and visit Callao. They visit the museum of archaeology and anthropology. They attend a bullfight for the first time. Biochemists in Peru are illegal because the government doesn't like them to interfere with something they are ignorant of.  Alberto lies and says he is a doctor. The patients in Lima gave them 100 and a half-soles, cried when they left, and thanked them for the encouragement and for treating them with respect.  They leave to a town called Nescuilla by using a drunk to give them money. They then take a boat to San Pablo and go through forest and Alberto wins a card game in order to get money. They sleep on the floor and nearly get eaten by mosquitoes, but get distracted by noticing the beautiful forest. They get to the pier and meet the Yagua tribe and travel to San Pablo where they get to a colony. There they were facilitated a room and are located in Iquitos, Peru. While writing a letter to his father, he states that they get vaccinated for yellow fever and Typhoid. The colony has patients situated across the river living in jungle huts and doing whatever the like. Dr. Bsciana is attempting a study of nervous forms of leprosy in this colony. They also find that conditions are bad in this colony and the patients aren't treated like humans and are thankful for Alberto and Ernesto’s manners. He gets to Bogota, Colonia in July 6, 1952. He writes a letter to his mother explaining his experiences and saying happy birthday. He explains that at the colony the nuns gave them reduced rations if they didn't go to mass but they managed to get food anyways. Also, when they were leaving the patients they sang songs to che and Alberto and played instruments and gave speeches while having major disabilities. They loose there way in the Amazon River and improvise there way to getting to Bogotá where they find that there is no individual freedom. The police have control over the people everywhere and they leave as soon as possible. Alberto although is offered a job and stays behind, Ernesto goes to Venezuela and is fascinated by Caracas and speaks a bit on the history of hit. At the end he declares himself a revolutionary and his motivation.

Qoute

" I feel my nostrils dilate, savoring the acrid smell of gunpowder and blood, the enemy's death' I steel my body, ready to do battle, and prepare myself to be a sacred space within which the bestial howl of the triumphant proletariat can resound with new energy and new hope" (Guevara 165).

Reaction

    My reaction to this quotation was a moment of final conclusion and understanding of Ernesto Guevaras purpose of the book. This quotation explains his feelings towards a new revolution and answer's the question of his motivation for writing his diary. The phrase give the reader a foreshadowing of his intentions in later on liberating many countries and working for the poor and sick in Latin America. This quotation connects to this whole book because at the end of the book he finally states how he is feeling after his whole journey and what he chooses to do about what he sees. He states that he wants the working class to win the battle against those who have everything and refuse to share. Giving the working "new energy and new hope." He uses very descriptive language and figurative language.

The Motorcycle Diariese by Ernesto Guevara (p. 59- 111)

Summary
   Ernesto and Alberto leaves Temuco, there motorcycles gear box smashes and they fly off the motorcycle and have to walk to the next town. They stay at a mechanics house were they go out to a party and both men get drunk. Che asks the Mechanics wife to dance and she accidentally falls on the ground causing the town men to run after them. The arrive in Cullipulli and give La Poderosa and give the new owner a letter attached to it. Then they get to Los Angeles were they volunteer as fire fighters and experience the benefits in society, Alberto gets the opportunity to save a cat. They continue to explore Chile through improvising places to stay and asleep and then arrive at Valparaiso. They attempt to find ways to go to Easter Island but flights there are so rare and only occur every six months. They always complement Chile's hospitality because everywhere they go they find where to stay and people are very sympathetic. Alberto meets with doctors in Valparaiso and Ernesto meets with sick women and finds that the sick become a disadvantage in many people's life.  He feels he cant do anything for her and gives up his own asthmatic pills. In Valparaiso, elders are not trusted by the community on bad events that occur. They find they are at a disadvantage  because of there hobo appearance. A doctor promises to them to a trip to Easter Island one day when they come back. They decide to sneak on a boat called the "San Antonio," were they are made to work cleaning the toilet and peeling potato's after they get caught.  They realize they are destined to travel  and learn about different cultures even though in many places they were unwelcome. They go to a copper mine named Chugimata and meet a couple, the husband got arrested for being a communist. They spend a night with the couple trying to stay warm in the desert.  The couple search for a job with horrible threatening conditions for low food pay. The catch is that these jobs are so horrible the boss doesn't ask for a political status.  Thousands die by the traps set by nature to protects its jewels in mines. But little does nature know that the poor workers are doing this just to get there daily bread. Chile produces 20% of the worlds copper. They walked two hours to a town and join a soccer team in return for food, shelter, and transportation and they travel to different mines. They get to Iquique take a boat Arica, which is the border between Peru and Chile. They sleep in a town hospital treated by a mean doctor because they look like hobos. Dual narrator of Ernesto of following year speaks, he analyzes Chile and explains that Chile has low medical and living standards. The political scene is cruel because 40,000  people can't vote because there communist. They find shelter and talk about Argentina's non-discrimination and way of life. They get to Estaque and explore ancient Incan civilization, the people speak Aymaron, this town shows culture that are unaffected by Spanish colonization. A bust takes them to a high snowy mountain and it takes the peruvians no effort to run in the snow,  while it takes Che and Alberto a while. They meet with a teacher who tells them about the education system and conflict between the unaccepted Indigenous people by the ladinos in Peru. Fishers use the same technique for 500years and maintain traditions. They stop at Avavirg where a funnier is carried out as a procession in the streets. Che explains the legend of Cuzco, it was founded on female and male equality as the center of the Incan empire. He says that Cuzco can be viewed in two ways. One way is recognizing the Spanish influence and that makes one desire to fight for the Incan Culture. The other is to be superficial and not notice the damage that has been done on Incan culture. He makes inferences on from the time Cuzco was built and other opposing forces before the Spanish attacked. The relation between events that occurred and the architecture is shown. They climb a mountain to find the Spanish Fortress and swords. Machu Piccu shows a pure civilization and a true mystery.

Quote
  " What does it matter if we stay there a year; who cares about studying, work, family, etc.  In a shop window a giant crayfish winks at us, and from his bed of lettuce his whole body tells us, "I'm from Easter Island, where the weather is perfect, the women are perfect..." (Guevara 69)

Reaction
   My reaction to this was to realize Ernestos personality. Besides his diary recording everything he does, he is quite sarcastic and humorous. He uses personification in this qouatation by giving a fish the human ability to talk. The overall qoutation connects to the larger story because after all, there trip is to stop carring about studying, work, and family and discover something beyond that. Easter Island seems to symbolize the end of there trip or there reward in a figurative way. He uses a lot of figurative language referring to a fish as a male and saying that his bed is made out of lettuce. It makes the reader want to go to Easter Island, so they can have a bed made out of lettuce.

The Motorcycle Diariese by Ernesto Guevara (p. 1 - 59)

Summary
         The Diary Starts out by introducing the protagonist named Ernesto Guevara who is later known in history as Che. Ernesto is a medical student and his best friend named Alberto is a Biochemist who worked at a Leper Colony in Fransisco Del Char. Ernesto and Alberto are both from Argentina, and thought of the idea to explore North America by improvising. They plan on going on a motorcycle named " La Poderosa" meaning the powerful. They take with them there necessities, and a dog named comeback who is a gift for Chinchina, Ernesto's girlfriend. They begin there travels and stop in a town named Miramar to give Comeback to Chinchina, in return she gives him a gold bracelet to symbolize there love. They travel through sand dunes in Medanos, Argentina, and they fall off the motorcycle constantly. Dr. Choele Choel receives them when Ernesto gets the Flu and he recuperates. They brake there headlights, therefore at night have to travel with a torch on the road and suffer of hunger and thirst. They feel uncomfortable when they encounter Araucanian people who hold grudges against white people in Argentina, it becomes unbelievable for a doctor to appear famished and poorly dressed to ask for a food or a place to stay. They arrive at San Marting De Los Andes, where they are forced to sleep in a national park shed, where they agreed with the man who lives there to work as hot Dog workers in order to get meat for the trip. While being on the job, Ernesto gets drunk of the wine they were selling and after take the left over materials they didn't sell as pay. When Ernesto and Alberto wake up, there drinks are gone, they were broke, but feel encouraged that they are well fed. They meet some of Alberto's friends who pick them up and take them to Junin de los Andes. After, they go hiking and catch a duck at night and eat it, they get paid and head off. Ernesto writes a letter to his mother mentioning his experiences. they arrive at a mans house who agrees to let them stay and fix there motorcycle, and he warns them of the puma's around the area, at night Ernesto with fear shoots at the family dog thinking its a puma and they get kicked out. They a ferry to cross a lake through Chile, and they lecture other Doctors of Leprosy, and converse about the issue. Correo de Valvida newspaper writes and article of them and there mission to study Leprosy across the Americas. They notice the Indigenous Chileans and Anglo Saxon immigrants great separation, which is not a huge issue in they were used to in there community. A man named Raul gives them a place to sleep in Temuco, Chile and they are given much respect in the town for being leprosy explorers.

Quote
"In nine months of a man's life he can think a lot of things, from the loftiest meditations on philosophy to the most desperate longing for a bowl of soup - in total accord with he state of his stomach. And if , at the same time, he's somewhat of an adventurer he might live through episodes of interest to other people and his haphazard record night read something like these notes."

Reaction
  My reaction to this quotation was that I had to read it over for about three times. Then I understood that the Ernesto comes out of the reading, using dual-voice narrator, using his voice after his journey through Latin America. He explains his guess for why the reader may be reading his diary, he indirectly comes out as a older voice using a second person point of view, which is common. He uses sophisticated vocabulary, but it is a bit confusing, maybe because of me not being used to reading such type of writing, or because of the fact this book is translated from Spanish to English. Without doubt, his writing is quite deep.

Reaction to Review of the film "The Motorcycle Diaries"

      My reaction to the review was a deeper understanding of the movie or clarification on my thoughts about it. The review explains what the movie captures, "What "The Motorcycle Diaries" captures, with startling clarity and delicacy, is the quickening of Ernesto's youthful idealism, and the gradual turning of his passionate, literary nature toward an as yet unspecified form of radical commitment" (Scott).The review speaks of an idealism that I also saw, which was a denial of the type of government the character Che encounters, the type of idealism was not specified. The best connection the review makes is to the world and is completely true, that "The love it chronicles is no less profound — and no less stirring to the senses — for taking place not between two people but between a person and a continent...In an age of mass tourism, it also unabashedly revives the venerable, romantic notion that travel can enlarge the soul, and even change the world"(Scott). The movie shows Che's nostalgia for the world and people he didn't even know, he bonded everywhere and demonstrated a unconditional love for the world and the people inside of it. What shocked me completely of the whole review was the following "Mr. Salles risks being accused of idealizing his subject. It's a fair charge, but one that misses the director's fidelity to his literary sources. Guevara's diaries, discovered in a knapsack long after his death, were published in 1993, and much of their appeal lies in the sense of immediacy they convey. Their author did not know who he would become, even as the notebooks themselves dramatize a crucial stage in his development" (Scott). It is very real that the Director Mr. Salles could of been idealizing Che, but I agree with Mr. Salles, Che was a inspirational figure and so was his story, so why not idealize him? Scott doesn't disagree either but suggests that they make him sound too good, even before he becomes huge in history. Well, that's fair but I didn't know before seeing the movie that he was a Cuban revolutionary and I still think Mr. Guevara is a hero for his experience and learning.


 Scott, A.O. "On the Road with Young Che." The New York Times. 24 Sept. 2004. 12 Jan. 2011 <http://movies.nytimes.com/2004/09/24/movies/24MOTO.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=the%20motorcycle%20diaries&st=cse>.

The Motorcycle Diaries Movie Reaction

   The movie "The Motorcycle Diaries" based on the book by Ernesto Guevara was amazing. The movie portrays the story of two young men, one named Ernesto who is a medical student and the other is a Biochemist named Alberto. Both decide to go on a journey around South America, form Argentina to Venezuela. The movie shows all the dreadful truths of the way people live everywhere. My reaction to Che's encounters with people, were like Ernesto's because it took me a while to understand how sad some of the characters lives are. Especially, in one seen where Ernesto and Alberto encounter a couple who got kicked out of there land for there political view points. Living here in America, somebody who would hear that here wouldn't really care because of the liberal life style, and it's almost impossible to understand that somebody could lose there home over a opinion. Besides the extraordinary story, the film was shot very well and used constant methods of shooting. There were always over the shoulder shots, even when Che was leaving his family in Argentina, to emphasize the caring they all had for each other. The film also uses these types of shots to show the gratitude and the relationship between the leprosy patients and Ernesto. My reaction to when Ernesto didn't wear gloves and acted kind to the patients, was shocking because people had been neglecting people who had leprosy even before biblical times.
    The setting is established, through most establishing shots, especially at the beginning of the film, where many mountains are shown, track shots from the motorcycle out to the whole scene occurs. Also, guitar folk type music plays to establish a calm setting. The movie also takes some time to show the citizens who are being affected by poverty and places them standing still in a black and white shot. This is to allow the viewer to recognize all the victims that are affected by poverty. Lastly, the scene were he crosses the river at night time has low-key lighting to emphasize a dramatic moment and the danger Che has, but has back lighting to give Che a more heroic feel. Overall, the movie was inspiring and a learning experience.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (pg. 269-335)

Summary

Summary
At the beginning of the last section of part two, Oscar is still living in a world of misery by his curse called fuku. This whole last section is from the point of view of Junior. Lola was pregnant but aborted because Junior was Cheating on her. Oscar looses twenty pounds at a point and feels good enough to start fresh in D.R. Oscar, Beli, and Lola all go visit La Inca and reunite in the Capital called Santo Domingo. Oscar decides to stay the whole summer there instead of going back two weeks later with Lola because he falls in love with Ybon Pimentel, a prostitute. He starts talking to Ybon at a coffee shop and finds out she’s middle aged. Oscar goes to Ybon's house constantly and La Inca and Belicia get mad that Oscar is talking to a prostitute. Oscar and Ybon Grow really close as friends, and she like him but they never got intimate with each other. Next, Ybon gets a boyfriend who is a cop known as "El Capitan," this aggressive man claims he wants to meet Oscar and actually shoots at La Inca's house. Ybon kisses Oscar for the first time(dream come true)in her car when she’s drunk, then two policemen tell her to step out. The captain beats him out of pity and threatens him. His two cop friends take him to a canfield to beat him up to death. Like Belicia, the mongoose leads Oscar to a cab driver that saves him. Oscar lives, as Beli and La Inca are in the hospital room they remember the coincidence of the situation. Three days after, Oscar’s is better and Belicia tells him that he is leaving back to Paterson. Oscar slowly accepts it and starts to believe in the fuku. He looks for Ybon, and she finally comes also with black eyes and tells him that they can NEVER talk again. He returns home and his mom doesn't talk to him, he is depressed over his heart brake.
Part three, Junior starts talking about his relationship going down the road with Lola. Oscar tells him that he is deciding to move away and start a new life, so He asks him for money. Instead, he goes to D.R and follows Ybon everywhere asking her to leave. Oscar follows Ybon for 27 days, when he doesn't follow her is writing letters about his experience with her. Lola even fly's down to tell him to leave, and Ybon tells him constantly to leave but he doesn’t listen. One day, El Capitan’s friends get a hold of him and beat him up again, they again take him to the canfields. Oscar tries to convince the two men that what they’re doing is wrong but they don't listen. They burned him, Clives the same taxi driver picks up his body. Beli dies ten months later from breast cancer. Ybon never changes, Justice didn't occur with the cops, and La Inca moves back to Bani. Oscar's death, even after Junior and Lola don’t work out. Lola gets married and has a girl. Even after five years Oscar dies, Junior dreams about him. Junior decides to change and becomes a teacher and gets married. Lola besides having a daughter, travels the world. Junior hopes that Lola's daughter will finally put and end to fuku. Letters arrive to Junior that was from Oscar after, except for the last one. They include information about how he managed to escape with Ybon from the capital and they finally get together.
Quote
"Love was a rare thing, easily confused with a million other things, and if anybody knew this to be true it was him. He told them about Ybon and the way he loved her and how much they had risked...because of her love...if they killed him they would probably feel nothing..." (Diaz 321)

Reaction
This quotation occurs when Oscar is taken to the canfield and El Capitan's cop friends are about to kill him. It shows Oscar's hopeless romantic side till the end. The narrator starts out at the beginning of the book explaining Oscar's love for love. The book and Oscar's life ends with Oscar speaking of his love for someone. This shows Diaz poetic way of writing and how he makes his story comes full circle and makes perfect sense at the end. Besides the whole story showing Verisimilitude, "love was a rare thing" shows the way things society was at the time, and also foreshadows Junior and Lola's breakup further on. Oscar was born and dies a lover, the irony in this is that the character is expected to change into a Don Juan, but he dies a lover.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (pg. 205-267)

Summary

   Part two of the book starts out with Lola, back when she is still a teenager and in Dominican Republic living with La Inca. La Inca makes Lola go back to Paterson, New Jersey, this means that Lola has to go back to her abusive mother and has to leave her happiness behind in DR. Before she leaves, Lola breaks up with her boyfriend, and then prostitutes herself to her friend’s father, who gives her two thousand dollars in return. Lola's mom arrives in Banilejos to pick her up after seven months of not seeing her and treats her the same bad way. Lola's older narrator voice jumps in and explains to the reader that she later realized that, that was just the way her mom is. The reason why she sold herself was to get money in order to escape to another country but instead her old boyfriend Max dies and she gives his family that money. She then sadly goes back to Paterson. In the Next Chapter, Oscar’s Grandfather called Abelard Luis Cabral, a doctor life story, and the starter of the family curse called fuku by talking badly about Trujillo. Trujillo is Dominican Republic's evil dictator according to the details given. Abelard was a wealthy man and was extremely intelligent, he had a wife named a Socorro and two daughters named Jackylene and Astrid. Also, he attended Trujillo's events but wasn't really close to him, he always tried to avoid him because he knew Trujillo would be interested in his good looking daughter. The countries decorum at the time was that a man had to offer his daughter to Trujillo no matter what and Cabral was against that. Trujillo even had spies that worked on just finding girls for him and if a man didn't give up his daughter or wife they were charged for treason. Cabral had taken a huge risk to not take his daughters and wife to these events.  He only told three people about his insecurity such as his wife, his mistress, and his bestfriend. At a presidential gathering, Trujillo asks Cabral if he has a wife, and humiliates him by admitting that he thought Abelard was gay. Trujillo then tells Abelard that he heard that he has a pretty daughter and Cabral responds by telling him that if he likes mustaches then that is a yes. The next presidential event, the invitation states clearly to him and his whole family. This makes him become depressive and too attentive with his daughters and ends up not taking them. Four weeks later, Cabral gets arrested for slander and gross calumny against the president. He had gotten drunk and said a joke about the president’s secret assassinations and claiming these murders as natural catastrophes. His mistress Lydia almost gets pregnant and Abelard Considers marrying her, but he loves his family too much. When he gets arrested he was put in a jail cell were he was stripped of his clothes and made to sleep in the bathroom because the guard lies to his jail mates and says that Abelard is a gay communist. He soon finds out that Socorro became pregnant with there last daughter and gets sentences for 18 years, he starts to believe that Trujillo put a curse on there family. He supposable didn’t get arrested for a joke or because of his daughter but he started writing a book about Trujillo’s supernatural state and powers. No evidence of his had written work or books remained. His last daughter, named Belicia had a dark skin complexion, which was at the time a family omen. The reader is left to decide whether he believes in the curse or not. Next, Socorro kills herself, Lydia's body was never found, his bestfriend who was a spy and ratted Abelard out became a millionaire, Jacky kills herself, and Astrid gets shot in church. Abelard dies 14 years after on an electrical chair. Belicia was taken care of Toila a servant, nobody wanted her because she was dark Socorro’s distant family took her and they didn’t get a reward for it so they gave her to another distant family who went on vacation and they came back without a baby. La Inca hears about Belicia years later and adopts her. Belicia had been abused severely. Growing up Belicia doesn’t talk about her horrible situation, she stays quite for 40 years. In the next chapter, Oscar graduates still without being in love and moves back home. Seven Months later Oscar becomes an English teacher. His students all make fun of him and he is just laughed at. Everybody in his life has moved on and he is just lonely.

Quote

"So which was it? you ask. An accident, a conspiracy, or a fuku? The only answer I can give you is the least satisfying: you'll have to decide for yourself. What's certain is that nothing's certain. We are trawling in silences here" ( Diaz 243)

Reaction

   This quotation is an excellent example of the author’s style of writing. The speaker jumps out of the story and actually speaks to the reader, he makes him think about the stories dilemma and doesn't give him an answer. In this quote, the speaker is asking the reader to decide weather the whole book is based on an accident or a curse. In my personal opinion, I truly think it was a curse. The speaker is able to make the reader decide on there own conclusion of the story and at the same time informs them about DR's history.